Ighodalo not disqualified, says Edo Assembly Majority Leader

The Majority Leader of the Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Charity Iguodala Aiguobarueghian, has dismissed claims made by former Edo Governor Adams Oshiomhole regarding the disqualification of Dr Asue Ighodalo, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the upcoming September 21 governorship election.

In an interview on Arise News, Oshiomhole asserted that the court had disqualified Ighodalo, labelling him as “not electable”. However, Aiguobarueghian, who represents Ovia North East 1 Constituency and is also a PhD student in Law at the University of Benin, vehemently refuted these claims, describing them as “utter falsehood”.

“I am very disturbed by the utter falsehood being peddled by the APC regarding the court cases where the PDP candidate has recorded astounding successes,” Aiguobarueghian stated. He further noted that it was troubling for such claims to originate from a sitting senator.

He elaborated on a recent court case initiated by Phillip Shaibu and others, which sought Ighodalo’s disqualification over alleged voter card forgery. Aiguobarueghian explained that the Federal High Court dismissed the suit on July 17, 2024, on several grounds, including that the plaintiffs did not participate in the PDP primary election and that the forgery allegations were unsubstantiated.

On July 22, 2024, the Court of Appeal also upheld the Federal High Court’s ruling, affirming that the suit regarding the alleged forgery had been conclusively dismissed. Aiguobarueghian clarified that the court’s judgement merely addressed procedural matters regarding the conversion of the case type and did not challenge Ighodalo’s candidacy.

“Therefore, the extant position is that the suit on the allegation of forgery of voter’s card stands dismissed,” he confirmed, adding that Ighodalo’s legal team has no intention of appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court as it serves no purpose.

The remarks by Aiguobarueghian aim to clarify the legal standing of the PDP candidate as the Edo State political landscape heats up ahead of the governorship election.